(Last update August 2018)GENERAL INFORMATION

Aurora Stamps is a full service retail store. We buy stamps, stamp collections and estate accumulations. We sell stamps, collections, covers, and stamps supplies. We do not buy/sell coins, paper money, gold, bullion, comic books, or sports cards.

"Do one thing - do it well"

We prefer to do business in person, please come in or call us during our open hours.425-775-8885 21016 76th Ave W. Edmonds WA 98026

Aurora Stamps has been in business since 1980 and was bought by Art, the owner, in 1993. John J, Sam, John S and Greg also work at the store part-time. The store was previously located at 18002 Aurora Ave (which is why it's called Aurora Stamps) and moved in 2004 to its present location.

We accept cash, checks, VISA, Mastercard, Discover and American Express.

425-775-8885Directions:We are located at 21016 76th Ave W. in Edmonds, just north of Stevens Hospital and Edmonds-Woodway High School.

From I-5, exit #179 (Mountlake Terrace/220th SW exit), go west on 220th for about 1 mile, cross Highway 99 and turn right (north) on 76th ave, on the left side after 1/2 mile.

BUYING STAMPS AND SUPPLIES

If you are looking to buy stamps for your collection, we carry a strong selection of Worldwide stamps, priced at 50-60% of catalog value for sound stamps. We also carry a comprehensive supply of pre-1935 US stamps - all priced by condition, and modern stamps priced by catalog value. We have many shelves of albums, collections, and boxlots of stamps reasonably priced by the lot. There are also a number of boxes of covers individually priced. We have a selection of stamp collecting supplies including a full range of sizes of stamp mounts. We are constanly buying new material so there is good turnover and what we don't have today, we might have tomorrow.

SELLING YOUR STAMPSWe are a strong buyer of stamps, collections, envelopes, postcards, - anything "stamps".Please call to find out if you might have a stamp collection of interest to us.425 775 8885What are your stamps worth? We determine the value based on what the market (our customers) will pay minus a reasonable profit for our efforts. What is our mark-up? It depends on how quickly and easily we can sell the items. High demand items have a small markup, where certain items that take a long time to sell will bring a small percentage of retail value.A number of our customers have stamps to sell and have no idea what the stamp market is like. Many collections that we see are worth nothing or very little, although we also see a number of collections worth substantial amounts. If you call and BRIEFLY describe what you have, we can let you know if we are interesting in looking at your collection. If so, then we recommend you come in for a free "approximate" valuation of your stamps, this will take from 1 to 15 minutes and give you a rough idea of what you have. This is a good next step, and will help you decide what would be best for you.We also provide detailed evaluation of collections if you need an exact quote, or for insurance purposes or estate settlements. We charge by the hour but can usually ensure that the evaluation fee is no more than about 10% of the value of the collection. If you sell the stamps to us or another stamp dealer then we don't charge for the evaluation.

IMPORTANT INFORMATIONHere is some information that we have found from over 25 years of experience in the stamp business:- Stamps can be unused (mint) or used (cancelled). In general, unused can be more valuable but that is not always true. Old is generally better than new but there are many exceptions. There are US stamps from the 1870's that were printed in quantities of billions and are worth pennies each, while there are a few newer stamps that can have some value.- Most stamps are very common. Since stamps were first issued in 1840, there have been well over 500,000 different issues from around the world. At least 80-90% of these issues are common and literally can be sold by the pound. Albums containing all different stamps have a better chance of having more value.- Condition is everything. Stamps with pieces missing, or tape stains usually are virtually worthless, even if scarce. Even stamps with tiny defects such as a missing perforation of a corner crease can be valued at a small percentage of the same stamp in nice condition.- Many collections we see are ones from a collectors childhood. Most of these are not worth very much although there are exceptions. Generally, if more money was put into the collection years ago, it usually means the collection is more valuable today. - There are trends in stamp collection. For example, certain stamps have strongly appreciated in value in the last couple years. On the other hand, United Nation stamps and First Day Covers, including "gold-foil covers" have very little value today.